1992 Saturn Sl1 You Could Provide Diagnosing Repairing Sudden Windshield

So the wipers try to work when there off?But dont?Iam trying to figure out if you have more then one.problem or just one problem?

Correct, the wipers are, on their own, trying to work when they are turned OFF... and not doing a very good job of it. They groan and vibrate and struggle to move, then move a little, then stop, then move a little further, then stop, ... repeat.

Very annoying--sounds like the motor is going to burn out! Yet, if I turn the switch to full ON, to the fastest setting, they work fine--no odd motor noises, smooth, fast operation. And when I turn them OFF again, it's back to intermittent groaning creeping wipers.

Sounds like you have a bad wiper motor its really comon for the 1995 and down S model saturns to have the logic board fail and most common symptoms when.they fail you get the wiper motor coming on when the wipers are off.Also if the wiper motor sounds so bad i would also say thats another reason to say its a bad motor as well.Iam not there to see or hear whats going on but from what you have said it sounds like a bad motor.Also inspect the wiper linkage and make sure the wiper arm nuts are tight.

Thanks. I wasn't sure if there was a logic board somewhere. That seemed the most likely cause to me, since the motor operates flawlessly when set to its ON/fastest setting.

I'll inspect as you suggest. Also, do you know if there is any way to test the logic board or wiper motor connector pins (with a volt/ohm meter, for example) to verify that the board and/or motor is the culprit?

Thanks again.

The logic board is attached to the motor so when you replace the motor you replace the logic board also.So if the wiper motor is bad noisey etc replace the motor and see if the wipers stop.comming on by themselves?There is a way to test the circuit though to see why the wjpers are coming on when the wipers are turned off.But has to be tested when its happening.

It is no problem testing while it is happening. It happens all the time now, even when parked. If you would provide details of how to perform the test of the circuit board, when the wipers are coming on when turned off, it would be greatly appreciated.

If the motor is making unusual noises and not working correctly i.would change the motor not bothering testing it right now and see if it stops going on by itself.If it were my car thats what i would do.Those 1991-1995 saturns its really common for a bad wiper motor/logic board to cause the wipers to come on by themselves.I have replaced tons of them for that issue.